Wordorigins.org

technetium

Dave Wilton, Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Technetium, element 43, is the first element to be artificially produced; it only occurs naturally in trace amounts as a product of uranium fission. The name is from the Greek τεχνητός, technetos, meaning artificial. Discoverers Carlo Perrier and Emilio Segrè write in the 4 January 1947 issue of Nature:

We would like to propose the name of “technetium,” from the Greek τεχνητός, artificial, in recognition of the fact that technetium is the first artificially made element. The corresponding chemical symbol should be “Tc.”1

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